Jay-Z explains sitting during National Anthem at Super Bowl LIV
By
Lisa Respers France, CNN
Updated 5:32 PM ET, Wed February 5, 2020
Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles watch Super Bowl LIV between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on Feb. 2, 2020.
(CNN)Jay-Z has a message for all those who believed he and his wife Beyoncé were engaging in a silent protest at this year's Super Bowl: "It actually wasn't. Sorry."
The couple received some criticism
after TMZ posted video showing them and their 8-year-old daughter Blue Ivy sitting while Demi Lovato performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl LIV.
On Tuesday
TMZ posted video of Jay-Z addressing what happened during an appearance at Columbia University in New York City.
According to the mogul, the whole thing "was not premeditated at all," but was instead a case of him doing his job given that his Roc Nation corporation
has a partnership with the NFL which includes producing the Super Bowl halftime show and other major performances.
He said his wife, who was a featured performer at the Super Bowl in 2013 and 2016, was offering him some insight about the experience and they were seated from the time Yolanda Adams sang "America the Beautiful" before Lovato sang the National Anthem.
"So, we get there, and we immediately jump into artist mode," he said. "So, I'm looking at the show. 'Did our mic start? Was it too low to start?' ... 'Is it too many speakers on the floor?'"
"So, the whole time we're sitting there and we're talking about the performance," he added.
He said he would never put his young daughter in the position of being part of a protest.
Instead Jay-Z said he believed a statement was being made by
the diverse halftime show which was co-headlined by Latina superstars Jennifer Lopez and Shakira and included other Latin artists as well.
"We were making the biggest, loudest protest of all," Jay-Z said. "Given the context, I didn't have to make a silent protest."
